Borer's BBQ a dream come true

by Nathan Arneal
Published 9/30/26

Downtown North Bend will soon be smelling of smoke again, but this time it will be the good kind of smoke.

Barbecue smoke.

A smoked loaded baked potato is one of the items on the menu at Borer BBQ and Brews.

Borer’s BBQ and Brew will be opening its doors for business Thursday, Oct. 1. The venture has been a long time coming for owners Mike and Lisa Borer.

“I think we’re in good shape,” Lisa said. “It’s just getting all the last pieces together. I’m super excited. I am so ready for next Thursday to be here and just do it.”

Lisa will be running the front of the house, the bar and dining room, while Mike handles the cooking and the kitchen.

The menu will feature all your barbecue staples: ribs, burnt ends, pulled pork and brisket. Mike Borer will smoke his own sausage, pastrami, corned beef and bacon as well. The menu will also feature burgers, chicken and eventually steaks and prime rib.

“The menu will grow,” Mike said. “It’s kind of small now.”

Staying true to his Morse Bluff roots, he also wants to do Czech nights with dumplings, sauerkraut and roasted pork.

A full bar will feature a number of Nebraska beers and wines.
Borer started smoking meat during family camping trips 20-some years ago. In the late 2010’s he started doing some small catering jobs for friends. When he did the food for son Zach’s graduation party in 2019, his barbecue really began to get noticed.

“Then we did a couple of weddings and it took off from there,” Borer said. “Those big ones really attract a lot of attention.”

The dream of a barbecue restaurant began long ago. He mentioned the idea of Borer’s BBQ and Brew over a decade ago. When the North Bend laundromat closed, Mike thought it might made a good location. Lisa told him he couldn’t quit his day job yet.

Eventually he did retire from his career as maintenance supervisor and facilitates manager at various meat packing plants and dove deeper into smoking and catering. Five or six years ago he was asked to cook at the Duncan Ribfest. To take the show on the road, he needed a trailer. That was the origin of the Borer BBQ food truck, which has been serving in North Bend on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“Then everybody started hitting me up, saying ‘You need to get a restaurant,” Borer said.

Enter Curtis Brabec, who had a location on North Bend’s Main Street, a shop that formerly housed Urkoski’s Garage. Brabec bought the building more than 20 years ago and used it to store cars. Then he got the idea of fixing it up into an event venue.

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